Planned Parenthood PAC Buys Battleground Ads

The Planned Parenthood Action Fund is making one of the largest ad buys in its history, buying $3.2 million TV time in the battleground states of Virginia and Ohio, saying Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is bad for women’s health.

Planned Parenthood Votes, part of the women’s health group PAC, just launched the first part of that batch–$1.85 million in ads that will air on TV in Northern Virginia. That wealthy area in the Washington suburbs will likely be likely fought street by street by Democrats and Republicans, said GOP and Democratic strategists in interviews this past weekend.

The PAC will start airing $1.35 million in ads in the crucial swing state of Ohio later this month, said a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood. It also began running $145,000 in online ads in Virginia.

Recent Republican comments against abortion rights have revved up women, said Planned Parenthood’s president Cecile Richards last week at the Democratic convention. The Action Fund signed up more than 6,000 new members in Charlotte, spokeswoman said.

Earlier this spring, Mr. Romney vowed to de-fund Planned Parenthood, which operates health clinics all over the country that dispense birth control and in some states, provide abortion services.

In May, Planned Parenthood’s Action Fund kicked off a $1.4 million ad buy in Northern Virginia, Iowa and Florida, and endorsed President Barack Obama’s re-election.

The new anti-Romney ad says “Mitt Romney would turn back the clock for women,” and includes clips of the candidate saying that the Supreme Court should overturn the abortion rights decision of Roe v. Wade.

It also shows him saying earlier this year — “Planned Parenthood – we’re going to get rid of that.”

The 30-second ad wraps up, saying that millions of women “know we should be making our personal medical decisions, NOT Mitt Romney.”

“This is another misleading ad by the President’s allies in an attempt to cover up for four years of failure. Dishonest political attacks will not change the fact that President Obama’s policies have not helped women start businesses, increase take-home pay or ensure that their children can afford to go to college and get a job,” said Romney spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg.

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